The Court of Justice of the EU has ruled that, in principle, Member States may publish online the names of professional athletes who have violated anti-doping rules, together with the length of their suspension and the reasons for it. However, the Luxembourg judges explained in a ruling arising from the case of four Austrian athletes—suspended temporarily or for life for doping—that such publication must comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Accordingly, the Court said the authority responsible for making the publication must carry out a balancing of the interests involved before publishing, and the publication must respect the principle of proportionality, particularly as to its duration. The judges also noted that the athlete concerned should be able to lodge a preventive complaint with the competent data protection authority if there are concrete indications that a publication about them is imminent or forthcoming.